Awesome week by everyone! Monday was a bruiser with Manion. I was truly impressed with those that gutted it out. Tuesday brought some reverse lunges out of the racks. Deadlifts anyone? There were quite a few of you pulling weight very close to your previous 1RM! It was AWESOME!

I was asked in one of the classes why we were performing lunges as a strength movement. Great question!

We mostly always train bilateral movements, meaning we squat with both legs, press overhead with both arms, two arm snatch, etc. No matter how long or short you have been training the body is great at compensating for imbalances. You may be favoring one side, usually your dominant, without even knowing it. Mixing up the training with a uni-lateral lift every so often is a great way to identify these imbalances and begin working to correct them.

So, if you noticed one leg was much easier than the other, begin adding one day a week after class to perform a quick 3×5 set. Progress the weight in a linear fashion that challenges you but it does not need to be a maximum load.

May 9-10 kicks off the next Challenge here at CrossFit Boston. Keith from Fitness Wave will be here again beginning Friday afternoon through Saturday to perform hydrostatic weighing. If you participated in the Transformation Challenge at the beginning of this year then this will be a great time to check in and see if you are maintaining the progress you worked so hard for. If you missed it the first time around, this is your chance to get dunked and have your body composition analyzed in the most accurate fashion available.

The Challenge

It’s no secret that the greater strength capacity an athlete holds, the better able they will be able to move large loads across long distances. Thus, improving one’s fitness! What will we be testing? THE CROSSFIT TOTAL.

CrossFit TotalBack Squat, 1RMShoulder Press, 1RMDeadlift, 1RM

In one session you will establish the baseline for each lift. This will require a great deal of intensity. From the baseline, participants will be given a program to follow for the next 12 weeks to help improve their numbers. This program will be intended to be performed in addition to the regular classes and it will be explained in further detail in another post.

How Does The Body Composition Factor In?

We are CrossFitters. We need to continue to get stronger to continue progressing as athletes. What we don’t want to see are huge gains in body fat while our strength numbers increase. The program will emphasize growth in lean body mass with minimal, if any, gain in body fat. You may even lose body fat, but we really want to focus on increasing lean body mass. This will improve our strength to body weight ratio and improve our fitness.

Fine Details

Check back in over the weekend for the details as far as cost, what is included in the cost, etc. In the meantime we don’t want to delay your ability to sign up and reserve your spot for the hydrostatic weighing. Click on the link below. It is a live document where you can put your First and Last Name.